I was doing the all dangerous shoot the shit in gun range the other day. Guy said his favorite mags were HK 5.56 mags. He said they cost $50 but they were awesome. I love pmags and have had no issues with any mags except cheap ass 5 round hunting mags. My colts, PMAGS …have run fine. So I don’t need anything.
I looked at the heavy HK mag. It looked typical quality and heavy. I was thinking of getting a couple just for grins, and I like quality. Anyone run these mags. Just end users please. Feedback or thoughts from users on HK Mags.
I have some that I have been running for a few years… To me they are just mags and I doubt I would ever buy them again at anything more than $20 or so. They are a bit heavier but I haven’t found them to be anymore reliable than my Colt GI mags or my Pmags. I tend to stock up and hoard Pmags.
Maybe I’m different, but for me mags are a disposable piece of kit. If I have a couple malfunctions with one I just throw it away…
I’m just a dude, not LE/.mil so my point of view is from shooting/training/gaming.
I ran them for about 2 years. I never paid retail, I’d hunt around and get them for $20ish a piece lightly used.
I liked them. The extra weight over GI aluminum was noticeable, especially when 6+ were sitting in a chest rig. I never had problems with them feeding(until damaged, more on that in a minute) or getting bound up. My mags end up in the sand in Florida so I did clean them once, but only because I thought I was supposed to, not because they needed it.
Things I didn’t like were how brittle they were. I damaged two mag’s feed lips by dropping them into a truck bed. I also thought they had a stupid take down procedure. Also, no Ranger Plates only the original magpuls/GI 100mph tape style pulls for these. If there were Magpul Ranger Plates for these, I’d switch back immediately.
I sold them all at the beginning of the year to switch to PMags only and regret doing so.
I bought 30 of them soon after the assault weapon ban lifted. I used 10 while keeping the other 20 for use, sale in the future. After about 1.5 yrs of moderate use, (Maybe 8000 rds) 9 of the 10 mags I was using failed to lock the bolt back in multiple ARs.
Springs were gone and HK would not sell springs. I sold all 30 at a loss at the next gunshow I went to and bought all Pmags.
They are very well made and are the smoothest running mags I have ever felt. The follower feels like it is on ball bearings. I would not try to talk you out of having one as a curiosity, but in my opinion you can get more long term reliability with mags that cost far less.
No experience at all with HK mags but if you want a steel mag to try, have you looked into Fusil USA? They are much cheaper and will give you that steel mag feel in terms of weight and handling. Just a thought.
Why do you regret switching from
The HK mags to Pmags? Or do you only regret getting rid of them, and not the switch itself?
I’m seeing more and more of them for sale on TOS and have almost pulled the trigger on some a few times, but have found better things to blow my cash on. I won’t be straying far from my Pmags/USGI mags and for the cost of an HK mag I can’t justify it. I’m also seeing more KCI knockoff HK mags which makes me not want to buy used.
Looking forward to see what others have to say about them…
I played with one my friend had for a little while. They are nice, but I didn’t see the value in them over the Pmag. I have never had a problem with my Pmags and you can get 4-5 of them for the same price as the HK.
I’ve used them on and off since 04.
I currently have about 20, with between 600 and 2,000 rounds through each.
Decent mags, but the price is a bit high.
I credit them with a lot of the PMag frenzy that erupted following their release.
They can still be problematic. Springs go out a little faster than average and they are susceptable to permanent tube and feedlip damage. I have had ones with issues with locking the bolt to the rear when empty, just as with other mags.
If they cost the same as GI mags I would own a trunk full of them, but at 5 to 8 times the price? Nope.
I’ve heard from Pat Rogers and some others that the HK Maritime Mags were originally designed for use in the British service rifle, the SA80. Not the M-16/Ar-15 family.
I have 3it of them two worked from the start and one needed a new spring. All 3the had been used, but not heavily. I prefer P-mags, especially for the price.
I have used them for a few years, in training and while working, I have moved back to PMags or regular brownells mags for all of my training and work.
When run hard in training the feed lips will dent and then you can use that mag as your go to malfunction mag, so if you want to practice your malfunction drills go with the HK.
I have roughly 20 H&K magazines. I purchased all for 12$-20$ each.
Personally speaking, I enjoy H&K magazines a lot. Failure2stop touched on all the problems I could think of with the magazine.
I will always pick up H&K magazines whenever their cheap simply because I like having them.
Not all the PMags/EMags I have fall free from my rifles. That and I’ve been able to stuff 32 rounds in some of my EMags and that has caused me double feeds. Nothing really a knock against Magpul, just my stupidity causing me problems. One of my EMags doesn’t like being used a monopod either. Never had that problem with the Hk mags.
I see. I only have one Emag laying around, I’ll have to dig it out and monopod off of it for kicks. I don’t use it very often. I do pay attention to how many rounds I load into my Pmags, the 31st is easy to get in there if I don’t pay attention…